In class this week, we were asked to set up an experiment to demonstrate what will happen if the polar ice caps melt. I have a lot of concern when it comes to global warming and have had many discussions about it with my students. My biggest concern is not that there will be world wide flooding, but more about the effects on wildlife in these regions and long term effects on humans. We already hear about larger mammals in these areas having to search longer and farther for food supplies; penguins being found dead miles from their normal hunting grounds, polar bears starving, etc. This is so heartbreaking to me. I'm a huge animal lover and feel it is unfair to them if this truly is a result of human actions.
I was actually really excited about this week's experiment because I'm always looking for new activities for the environmental component of our curriculum. I have to say I was very disappointed with the actual experiment. I ended up doing it twice, because I thought I did it wrong the first time because I was expecting different results. Both times I did it, it took over an hour for the ice to fully melt, which would not work in my 45 minute classes. I filled the glass all the way to the top, but barely any water flooded when the ice all melted; it was more condensation on the outside of the glass and bowl. I'd like to hear about how it went for everyone else. Maybe it was too cold in my house for the ice to melt fast enough. Should I have used hot water? I was expecting more actual "flooding
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
STEM lesson reflection week 2
Week 2 blog on writing STEM lessons
I have done numerous lessons before, but creating one that was geared towards a STEM lesson was more challenenging that I though it would be. When I usually write lesson plans, I obviously make sure they are alligned with our current state standards, and then write objectives, anticipatory sets, assessments, etc. What I found to be the most challenging in this particular lesson was finding ways to extend it to include all STEM ideologies. The science component of this STEM lesson was easy enough, as was the technology part since we used microscopes to observe bacteria and spent time in the computer lab, although I wish my school had more varied types of technology such as probe ware. The engineering and math parts were more difficult. There is not much math in 7th grade lfe science so this is something I'd need to work on with our math teachers to find more ways to incorporate science and math in both classes. When I taught 8th grade physical science in previous years, there was much more math involved. I have to be honest about not really knowing how to incorporate an engineering component of a STEM lesson and feel I would need more traing in creating STEM lessons overall.
The 5 E's did help me narrow my focus for this particulr plan. I haven't used the 5 E's format in previous lesson writing, but can see the benefit of using it to creat high quality lessons, especailly is working with ESL students or students who need more modifications.
I have done numerous lessons before, but creating one that was geared towards a STEM lesson was more challenenging that I though it would be. When I usually write lesson plans, I obviously make sure they are alligned with our current state standards, and then write objectives, anticipatory sets, assessments, etc. What I found to be the most challenging in this particular lesson was finding ways to extend it to include all STEM ideologies. The science component of this STEM lesson was easy enough, as was the technology part since we used microscopes to observe bacteria and spent time in the computer lab, although I wish my school had more varied types of technology such as probe ware. The engineering and math parts were more difficult. There is not much math in 7th grade lfe science so this is something I'd need to work on with our math teachers to find more ways to incorporate science and math in both classes. When I taught 8th grade physical science in previous years, there was much more math involved. I have to be honest about not really knowing how to incorporate an engineering component of a STEM lesson and feel I would need more traing in creating STEM lessons overall.
The 5 E's did help me narrow my focus for this particulr plan. I haven't used the 5 E's format in previous lesson writing, but can see the benefit of using it to creat high quality lessons, especailly is working with ESL students or students who need more modifications.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)